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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Campos
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2-3-06
HB
SHORT TITLE
SAN MIGUEL COUNTY INMATE
REIMBURSEMENT
SB 701
ANALYST Hadwiger
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$298.6
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to several bills that propose state support for county jails around New Mexico.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)
Department of Corrections (DOC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 701 appropriates $298.6 thousand from the general fund to the Local Government
Division (LGD) of the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) in FY07 to reimburse
San Miguel County for the cost of housing prisoners who are being held for transfer to another
jurisdiction.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $298.6 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general
fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 would revert to
the general fund. DOC reports there would be some additional administrative costs from this
bill.
pg_0002
Senate Bill 701 – Page 2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
DFA noted counties currently are required to apprehend and hold violators of state offenses.
These individuals are guilty of violation of state offenses such as parole violations. County offi-
cials have tried unsuccessfully in the past to collect these expenses from the State Dept. of Cor-
rections. The amount of the appropriation ($298,567) is the amount of expenses that San Miguel
County had for offenses in FY05.
DOC noted that exactly what is meant by transfer to another jurisdiction is not clear, but could
include those individuals being sent to a Corrections Department prison.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
DOC indicated there may be a minimal to moderate administrative burden placed on the depart-
ment because it may have to provide certain information (such as the names of inmates being
sent to the Corrections Department) to DFA to help DFA verify the incarceration costs in order
to reimburse the county. DOC will make every reasonable effort to absorb this administrative
burden without adding new staff, but commented that it is difficult to determine the exact amount
of administrative burden placed on the department by this bill. The bill could increase the ad-
ministrative costs associated with the department working with DFA to help DFA verify and
process the county’s bills, and these costs might be significant. There is no appropriation in the
bill to the Department to help offset or absorb these increased administrative costs.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
There are at least 20 bills in the current session that would provide for reimbursement from vari-
ous sources to county jails for housing certain categories of prisoners.
ALTERNATIVES
DOC noted that there are many bills attempting to address a similar challenge facing county jails
and suggested that, perhaps, a better solution would be to adopt a statewide solution such as
those proposed in HB264 and SB419 (which are identical bills) of the current legislative session.
Those two bills appropriate $25 million to DFA to administer and pay for housing certain cate-
gories of prisoners in all of the county jails or facilities.
DH/nt